Dalton Medical Centre
by NormalIsForTheAbnormal
Summary: Niff AU! Loosely based on the book Zelah Green by Vanessa Curtis. Jeff and Nick are 2 teenage boys. They aren't seen as normal. They both get sent to Dalton Medical Centre. In other words, a mental hospital. TW: Self harm, anorexia, bulimia, attempted suicide, depression, OCD, mutism.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

**TW: Self harm, ED's, OCD, mutism, attempted suicide, depression... I think that's it.**

Nick stared out of the car window. He had been told that they were going on vacation. That's why he was the only one with any bags. That's why no-one was talking. That's why his mom had put the child locks on the car doors. Then he saw the sign of the building they were approaching. Dalton Medical Centre for Teenage Boys. He was being sent to a mental hospital.

Jeff self consciously pulled the sleeves of his oversized hoodie down over his hands. He felt like his bony, scarred wrists were on view to everyone. He had blanked out the world and the next thing he knew was he was being roughly pulled from the car. He looked at the sign on the outside of the building. Dalton Medical Centre for Teenage Boys. His parents had gotten sick of him, so they were sending him away. Another boy was stood by a car, but his parents appeared to be loving, wanting the best for their son. Every quality that Jeff's parents didn't have. This was going to be fun.

"Hi, there. I'm Trent. I'm the owner of Dalton Medical Centre and the lead counsellor here. Our other counsellors are Blaine and Sebastian, and they will do everything they can to help you guys. We currently have 3 other patients, Thad, Kurt and Hunter. You will meet them in time, probably over dinner tonight. If you say goodbye to your parents, I'll show you down to your rooms." The bubbly man smiled, he was around 25 years old, Nick guessed. He glanced across at the blonde boy who had also arrived that afternoon. He was obviously very skinny and from the way he looked nervous, even a little scared at the mention of dinner, Nick knew he was here because of an eating disorder.

Jeff kept glancing nervously between the short dark haired boy and the counsellor. He was more relaxed now his parents had gone, but it was scary now. He was sure everyone would hate him. When they reached the bottom of the flight of stairs Trent opened a door which led to an open plan area. "Ok, guys, you 2 are the only ones down here. Jeff, you room is on the left, over there." He pointed to a blue door, which was to the left of the bathroom. "Nick, yours is on the right." He pointed to a red door on the right of the bathroom. "This is your area. Me, Blaine or Sebastian will probably come down here from time to time, but most of the time you'll be alone. I'll leave you guys to get to know each other. The rest of your stuff will be brought down to you soon."He left back through door they had come down through. Jeff took one glance at Nick and went into his room, clutching his bag tightly. He pulled a razor blade from his bag and shrugged his hoodie off. He started to draw the blade over his already badly scarred arms. Each cut representing someone who had hurt him.

**A/N: Reviews are nice. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm not 100% sure when the next update will be. It might be by Sunday, it might not be until Wednesday or Thursday next week as I have exams next week (FUN!) and a ton of revision and homework to do. I'll try to update as soon as I can.**

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

**TW: Anorexia, bulimia, OCD, mutism, self harm, self hatred.**

"Guys, dinner." A tall, skinny brunette came down into the basement, where Nick and Jeff were sat at opposite ends of the room. "I'm Sebastian, by the way." He smiled, leading the two new boys up to the kitchen, where everyone else was already seated round a large, circular table.

"Nick, Jeff. This is Thad, Kurt and Hunter." Trent said cheerily, pointing each boy out in turn. "Guys, this is Nick and Jeff. They got here this afternoon."

"Hey." Kurt smiled, standing up and hugging the new boys. Jeff flinched as he was touched.

"Hi." Thad mumbled, not looking up from where he was pushing his food into separate sections.

Hunter just glanced up nervously, before looking back down at his plate. Sebastian took the seat next to him. "It's ok, buddy." He soothed, knowing he wouldn't get a reaction, but needing to comfort the boy.

"I'm Blaine." A short, curly haired guy said from the seat next to Kurt.

"Just help yourself to food, guys." Trent said, gesturing to the dishes on the table. Nick smiled slightly and started serving himself.

Jeff, on the other hand just stared at his empty plate. He didn't eat.

"Jeff." Trent warned after a few minutes. "You have to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Jeff whispered.

Trent sighed frustratedly and served a few vegetables and a small piece of chicken on to Jeff's plate. "You can't leave the table until you have eaten what is on your plate."

Jeff glanced at Blaine and Sebastian, but they both held the same pointed look as Trent. He sighed quietly and picked up his fork. He ate the little food on his plate quickly, swallowing as little of it as he could, before departing the room at top speed, running back down to the basement. He locked himself in the bathroom and spat out what he had in his mouth before shoving his fingers part way down his throat. He knew the sensitive point of his gag reflex, he had done this so many times before. He moved his hand out the way just as his dinner reappeared. He vomited for a short while, repeatedly sticking his fingers down his throat to ensure that everything had come back up.

Nick walked down the stairs to the basement and was about to go into his room when he heard retching coming from the bathroom. He frowned and stood by the door, wondering if he should get someone. When Jeff finally emerged, Nick grabbed his wrist. "Are you ok?" He questioned, concerned for the other boy.

"I'm fine." Jeff said coolly, jerking his arm out of Nick's grasp.

"You've just been sick. You're obviously not fine." Nick said, looking into Jeff's eyes.

"I'm fine, honestly." Jeff replied, turning to go into his room.

Nick thought to what had happened over dinner. "You made yourself sick, didn't you?" He said softly.

Jeff froze. "Please don't tell anyone." He whispered.

"I won't, if you tell me why you do this to yourself." Nick lead Jeff over to one of the couches, frowning when the other boy's sleeve slipped to show a badly cut and scarred wrist.

"Because I'm fat. Because I'm ugly. Useless. Worthless. A piece of shit. Because I deserve to burn in hell. Because no one will ever want me." Jeff whispered, trying to hold back his tears.

"Why do you think that about yourself?" Nick whispered, deciding not to call attention to the cuts on Jeff's wrists. "I only met you today and I don't think you're any of that. You are not ugly, you are actually really beautiful. You are not fat. You are too thin, you should eat. It's unhealthy to be that skinny. Useless, worthless, you're not. I think you're worth everything and more. No one deserves to burn in hell, except whoever made you think that. And I know that there is someone who wants you." He said honestly, looking deeply into Jeff's eyes. "Believe me, I know there is." He leant a little closer to Jeff, gently cupping his face in his hand.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing this. **


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing you recognise.**

**TW: Depression, schizophrenia (thats it for this chapter)**

**This chapter is kinda just filler, but it's important.**

Jeff pulled away from Nick when the other boy's face was about an inch from his. "I-I can't do this." He stuttered, quickly going into the privacy of his room. He pulled the covers off of his bed and curled up against the door. He reached up to turn the light out, plunging him into darkness, the way he liked it. He barely drew breath before breaking down into tears.

Nick stayed sat on the couch, drawing his knees to his chest. _'You're so stupid.' _One of the voices came in his head. _'Why did you let them bring you here?' _He started pulling anxiously at his hair, trying to stop the voices in his head. _'You're so weak. You could stand up for yourself more.' 'Leave this place, make something of yourself.' 'Grow up and do something with your life.' _He couldn't take the voices anymore. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" He yelled, hoping to stop the comments from inside his head.

Jeff heard the yell and screamed at the top of his voice, thinking someone was trying to get into his room, thinking someone wanted to hurt him.

The counsellors were just about to start discussing how they were going to try to treat their new patients, when they heard a yell followed by a loud scream coming from the basement. They glanced at each other before racing down the stairs to see what was going on. They found Nick curled up on the couch with his hands over his ears, whimpering "Shut up, just shut up." Over and over again. Sebastian crouched in front of him and started soothing him while Trent and Blaine tried to get into Jeff's room.

Jeff was sobbing loudly, still pressed against the door. He felt someone trying to open the door and he tensed. "No!" He screamed loudly, not registering where he was. "Leave me alone. I'll be good, I promise I'll be good."

Trent and Blaine sighed softly, and pushed hard against the door, until there was a gap large enough for Blaine to squeeze into the room. He felt around and switched the lights on. "Jeff, calm down. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you." He soothed, reaching out to move Jeff from the door so Trent could get in. They lifted Jeff onto his bed and sat with him until he had completely calmed down and had fallen asleep. Blaine made his way back upstairs to check on the others, while Trent went to help Sebastian calm Nick.

"He just won't calm down, he says it's the voices." Sebastian murmured to Trent.

"Give me a few minutes with him, before you came we had another guy with schizophrenia, but his case was much worse. We helped him as much as we could, and after a year and a half, he was discharged to a day centre near his home, and he's doing fine now." Trent explained. "Can you get me his meds?"

Sebastian nodded and ran upstairs to the kitchen, where all patients' medicines, except Jeff's inhalers, were kept in a locking cabinet. He took the box with Nick's name on from the cabinet before double locking it and going back down to the basement. He handed the meds to Trent, who nodded his thanks and started sorting out the dose Nick needed. He administered the drugs and waited with Nick for him to calm down or fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Another chapter already. This is what you get when I have a sick day.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, Niff would be canon.**

**TW: Eating disorders, self harm, depression, attempted suicide.**

The next morning was hell. And for Jeff, that was putting it lightly. After a somewhat uneventful breakfast, Jeff had his first counselling session with Trent.

"Jeff, take a seat." Trent said warmly, letting Jeff into one of the therapy rooms. "Today, we're just going to focus on why you're here."

"Because my parents can't accept who I am and should never have been allowed to reproduce." Jeff cut in.

"Ok. Let's look past that. Your eating disorders, depression, self harm, suicide attempts. What caused them?" Trent asked.

"My sadistic parents." Jeff commented.

"You need to go deeper than that. What did they do to you to cause you to become like this? Is it for attention?" Trent questioned.

"Why would you think that? It's not for attention. Why does everyone think that?" Jeff shouted, standing up quickly and knocking his chair over in the process.

"Jeff, calm down. You know every reason why you are like this and why you are here. I need you to open up about it, so we can help you get better." Trent said softly.

"Why do I need to tell anyone? It's hurt me living through it before, why do you want to put me through it again?" Jeff cried, running from the room, dropping his inhaler on his way out. He ran from the building, right to the bottom of the garden, where there was a tall tree. He climbed up the tree and sat on one of the higher branches, wheezing heavily as he leant back against the trunk. He was crying the whole time he was up there.

Trent went into his office. There was only one person he knew of that might be able to help Jeff. He picked up his phone off the desk and dialled the number. "Hello, David? We have a new patient in. I think you would be able to help him."

David sat on the branch next to Jeff. "Hi, Jeff. I'm David." He introduced himself. "You dropped this when you came out here." He passed Jeff the inhaler, which the young boy took quickly, and relaxed a little as his breathing returned to normal. "Trent asked me to talk to you. 6 years ago, almost to the date, I was sat exactly where you are. I'd just run from my first counselling session. At the time, Trent was one of the assistant counsellors. I had been through so much, but once I opened up to him, he helped me so much." He looked Jeff in the eye. "Eating disorders, self harm, depression and attempting suicide is what brought me here. Does that sound familiar?" He asked, before continuing without waiting for Jeff's answer. "My parents never really accepted the fact that I'm gay. They didn't seem to care about me. They got sick of me and what I was doing to myself, so they sent me here. I've not seen them since."

"It started when I came out to my parents." Jeff whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

**You get the drill, if I owned it, Niff would be canon.**

**TW! Mentions of rape, abuse and homophobic slurs. Schizophrenia. **

"I found out why Jeff is the way he is." David told Trent over coffee in Trent's office. "We need to get the police involved because of it."

"Why? What happened?" Trent frowned.

"It started when he came out to his parents. To say they weren't accepting is an understatement." David explained. "It's even worse than what happed to me."

"Oh." Trent gasped. "Then it must be bad."

"Very. He came out to his parents. They really didn't accept him. They abused him. His father raped him." David said sadly. "His father raped him multiple times, all the while telling how he's an abomination. How he's going to burn in hell. That he's useless, worthless, fat, ugly. A piece of shit. That no one would ever want him. They told him that he should kill himself."

"Oh my god." Trent gasped. "I'll be on it straight away. Can you let Sebastian know that I need him to take Nick's first session?"

"Of course." David nodded as he left the room.

Nick's morning wasn't as bad as Jeff's, but that didn't mean it was easy for him. He had to try and ignore the voices while getting to know the building he was now living in. It didn't help that most of the time he had Kurt, Blaine or Sebastian popping up around him, asking if he was ok. He wasn't ok. If he was ok, he wouldn't be there. His parents couldn't deal with a schizophrenic son. It wasn't fair on his younger sister. _'It's not that they can't deal with you or want you to get better. They just don't want you. No one wants you. No one loves you.' _Nick sunk back against the wall. "Not again." He whined. Sebastian was walking just behind Nick when he stopped. "Nick, are you ok?" He asked, crouching by the young boy.

"The voices." He gasped. "They won't leave me alone."

"Right." Sebastian said quickly, puling Nick up off the ground. "You're coming with me to see Trent."

Trent had just gotten off of the phone with the police when there was a knock on his office door. "Come in." He called. A worried looking Sebastian was supporting Nick, who was obviously having a breakdown.

"The voices again." Sebastian explained.

"Thanks, Seb. I'll take it from here. Can you go check on Jeff? I think he's up the tree at the end of the garden." Trent asked, waiting for the door to close before turning to Nick. "What are the voices saying, Nick?"

"No one wants me. No one loves me." Nick replied in a small voice.

"That's not true, Nick. Your family love you, your parents want you." Trent soothed.

"Why did they send me here then? They just wanted to get rid of me." Nick said, still quietly.

"Because they love you, and they think that we can help you get better. Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental illness to cure, but if you help us help you, we can do it." Trent spoke calmly, trying to help Nick overcome the voices. "Don't bow down to the voices. You're bigger than them. It's just your past haunting you."

Nick stopped hearing at that. He stopped feeling too. All he could do was curl up and cry. Trent had hit him hard. Not physically, but mentally. He was beginning to remember how he was before all of this. Before he came out and the homophobic bullying started to hit hard. Every word, every taunt. All of them still remained in his head. Every voice, cutting him, even when he hadn't really heard them in months. His breathing was slowly becoming irregular and he stopped seeing as he passed out.

"Crap." Trent yelled when he saw Nick go down. This morning wasn't going well. But, it seemed that he'd begun to crack what was going on with Nick, which hopefully would lead to a speedier recovery.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know I haven't posted in a wile, but these last few weeks have been mega crazy for me. The week after next, I've got a week off school, so I'll update then, if not before. And I've got a story writing task for English next week. I am so using it to write Niff.**

Jeff made his way back down to the basement. He'd calmed down a lot, but there was one thing he needed. Nick was nowhere in sight, so he found his iPod. He started up his playlist and took off his hoodie and shirt, leaving him in a vest top and jeans. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the music. He started dancing to the music, slow at first and gradually growing more energetic. He didn't hear the door open as Trent led Nick down the stairs.

"Wow, Jeff. I didn't know you danced." Trent commented in amazement.

"Y-yeah I always have. My parents don't like it though." Jeff replied, stopping his dancing and turning his music off.

"Normally I wouldn't ask, but Sebastian and Blaine are busy with Kurt, Thad and Hunter, and I have some important issues to attend to. Can you just stay with Nick and keep an eye on him? He's had a couple of breakdowns over the last couple of days and I don't want him to be alone." Trent asked.

"I- ok." Jeff said quietly.

"Thanks." Trent hurried back upstairs, leaving Jeff and Nick together.

"You're a good dancer." Nick smiled shyly, looking nervously up at Jeff, who now had a light blush colouring his cheeks.

"Thank you." Jeff smiled, going to sit with Nick.

"Do you have any other hobbies?" Nick asked curiously.

"I dance, obviously." Jeff laughed, "I also sing. I play guitar, bass, piano, drums and violin. I read a lot."

"Wow. Were you popular at school?" Nick questioned.

"Erm. No. Most people where I live are really homophobic, including my parents. A couple of people I know who aren't are my old guidance councillor and his boyfriend. They really helped me." Jeff said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Oh." Nick frowned. "Everyone but my parents and my younger sister are homophobic where I'm from. The bullying and the taunts led me to schizophrenia, more commonly known as insanity."

"You're lucky that that your family accept you." Jeff whispered. "My parents were the main force of driving me to where I am now. Depression. Self harm. Anorexia. Bulimia. And the final shot of sending me here, attempting suicide."

"Why?" Nick murmured.

"They said the most awful things to me. Including for me to go kill myself. My dad used to-" Jeff's words were cut off by a sob. "He used to rape me while telling me that I was an abomination."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. *Hides from angry readers* I've been mega ill recently and stressed with school work. I've also had killer writers block. Here's just a little chapter to tide you over until next week. I promise I'll update again soon, or you can hunt me down.**

**Usual disclaimers apply, blah, blah, blah.**

**Warning! A little fluffy. Eating disorders mentioned.**

Nick sat in a stunned silence for a while, shocked that someone could hurt someone like Jeff for no reason other than him being gay. "You are worth so much more that Jeff. I know we're not going to enjoy our time here, but how about we make the most of it." He held his hand out to the other boy, who grasped it as if it were a life line. Maybe it was.

After having an afternoon of silence from the basement, Sebastian and Blaine went down to check on their latest arrivals. They were shocked to find the two young boys cuddled together, sound asleep on one of the couches. They saw the way the boys clung to each other and knew it would be hard to separate them. They quietly made their way back up to the kitchen, where Trent, Hunter, Kurt and Thad were waiting.

"Where are they?" Trent asked.

"Sleeping." Blaine replied. "They're clinging to each other as if their lives depend on it. And they both look like they could use the sleep. We didn't have the heart to wake them."

"Ok, just let them sleep. It might be easier to talk with them if they're well rested. Keep some food back, they have to eat." Trent smiled.

Jeff woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Nicks whimpers. They were still awkwardly cuddling on the couch. Jeff carefully untangled his long limbs, before gently trying to wake Nick. "Nick, Nicky, wake up." He whispered over and over again until Nick awoke.

"Wh-what?" Nick stuttered. "Did I oversleep? Am I late for school?"

"No, Nick. You kept whimpering. I thought you were having a bad dream." Jeff whispered.

"I get night terrors. I never remember them once I've woken. And god I'm hungry. Do you think we'd be in trouble for going into the kitchen at..." Nick broke off, glancing up at the clock. "Three-thirty in the morning.

"Considering that we slept through dinner, I can't see there being a severe punishment. I only want some water, though." Jeff said.

"Jeffy, you have to eat. I'll see if there's some yoghurt, you only have to have a little. I just want to see you eat. Three mouthfuls, for me?" Nick pleaded.

"Just for you, Nicky." Jeff whispered.

Hand in hand they walked up to the kitchen. Jeff pulled himself up onto the counter and poured some water and started to gulp it back, while Nick looked in the fridge. He found a pot of natural yoghurt and some fruit. He put some yoghurt into two bowls, only a small amount for Jeff, and topped his own with the fruit. He handed Jeff his yoghurt with a spoon. The blonde cautiously dipped his spoon into the yoghurt before dripping it slowly into his mouth. The taste made him remember a happier time. When he was a child, when he was loved. He knew yoghurt was healthy and low-calorie, so what harm could one small bowl do?

Jeff was just washing the dishes and putting them away when a half-asleep Trent appeared in the doorway. "Oh, it's you two. Normally people would be in trouble for being out of their rooms at night, but as you both slept through dinner, I'm not gonna do anything." He walked over to Nick, who was sat at the table and crouched by him. "Did Jeff eat?" He whispered.

"Yeah, we both had yoghurt. He didn't have much, but it was something. I had fruit with mine." Nick replied.

"Good, good. Don't be too long before you return to your rooms, boys." Trent smiled, knowing that if they opened up to each other, they could greatly help each other.


End file.
